Trial of Nicolás Maduro in the U.S. to Begin in June 2027

The trial of Nicolás Maduro, constitutional president of Venezuela at the time of his kidnapping and transfer to the United States, will begin on June 1, 2027, in a New York court, a federal judge announced today.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein, in charge of the case, announced the schedule this Wednesday during a roughly 13-minute hearing attended by Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Both have spent more than six months at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where they await trial in what their defenders and activists consider a politically motivated proceeding.

The hearing, which lasted about 13 minutes, is the third appearance for both since January 5, when they were presented in a Manhattan court two days after a large-scale attack against Venezuela ordered by President Donald Trump and executed by U.S. special forces, leaving more than a hundred dead, including 32 Cuban combatants.

On November 17, another session will be held in which Maduro's defense will file a motion arguing his immunity and questioning the jurisdiction of U.S. courts to try him.

According to some legal experts, U.S. courts would lack the authority to put the Venezuelan leader on trial, arguing that the legality of his arrest should be evaluated by an international arbitration tribunal under an old extradition treaty between the two countries.